Supervisor wants to hear from Public Works on road closure

FILE PHOTO: Bouquet Canyon Road. Katharine Lotze/The Signal
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Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich has asked officials with the county’s Department of Public Works to appear before the Board of Supervisors Nov. 15 in order “to go over” issues arising from the six-month closure Bouquet Canyon Road.

Concerns voiced recently by Bouquet Creek residents point to a stoppage in mail delivery – leading to election sample ballots not being delivered, interrupted trash pickup, a stoppage in deliveries of food and water and access by first responders in the event of medical emergencies.

The Registrar Recorder’s office had to set up a new voter precinct off of Spunky Canyon Road so residents can drop off their vote-by-mail ballots and vote provisionally.

“The supervisor wants to know exactly what’s going on,” Edel Vizcarra, the supervisor’s planning deputy, told The Signal Tuesday.

Vizcarra and others with the supervisor’s office have been “floating some ideas” they have for possibly resolving some of the issues affecting Bouquet Creek residents posed by the closure.

One of the issues being “floated” is the possible opening of the gates on Bouquet Canyon Road on days that don’t have any chance of rain,” Vizcarra said.

“They seem open to that idea,” he said, referring to residents who have expressed concerns recently about the inconvenience of the road closure.

“We’re floating around these ideas so that we can get to the bottom of this, and take care of the situation,” Vizcarra said.

“There are a bunch of things we keep going back and forth on with the public works people – a bunch of things that keep popping up,” Vizcarra said.

At one point last week, more than a handful of residents were prepared to dump their garbage on the steps of the Supervisor’s office, resident Ed Frankovich told The Signal last week.  That issue was resolved and the garbage-dumping plan abandoned after trash was picked up.

On the issue of mail delivery, county staff have been meeting with postal officials.

“The county has reached out to us,” Postal Service spokesman Richard Maher told The Signal Tuesday. “They were working on putting up temporary centralized mailbox units for the residents up there.

“I know they were trying to come up with something last week,” he said.

The current plan is to set up a neighborhood mailbox unit at the Green Valley Market in Green Valley, Vizcarra said. “Due to safety concerns, the (US) Postal Service will not drive on Bouquet Canyon Road,” he said.

“We’re going to ask them to come to the board,” Vizcarra said, referring to public works officials. “We’re going to go through everything.”

The appearance of public works officials at next week’s Board of Supervisors happens the day after Bouquet Creek residents meet in Leona Valley for an update on the road closure.

“The County has been working diligently to address issues affecting residents,” Public Works spokesman Kerjon Lee told The Signal Monday.

On Oct, 27, Public Works officials closed gates on Bouquet Canyon Road in anticipation of a rain they feared would flood the creek and make the road unsafe.  The weekend closure became a six-month closure.

They announced closure of the road until April over fears that flooding would make the road unsafe. A buildup of silt around the road since 2007 has rendered the road prone to flooding.

“The road, which was closed Thursday, Oct. 27, due to predicted rain, will remain closed to all traffic at least through winter storm season, which officially ends on April 15,” Public Works spokesman Steve Frasher announced in a news release issued Oct. 31.

 

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